Darren Adam Heitner, Esq. is the Founder of HEITNER LEGAL, Founder/CEO of Dynasty Dealings, LLC, Professor of Sport Agency Management at Indiana University Bloomington, Co-Founder of Collegiate Sports Advisors (CSA) and Founder/Chief Editor of Sports Agent Blog, a leading niche industry publication. He is an attorney licensed to practice on the state and federal level, and focuses on sports, entertainment, and intellectual property litigation and transactional work.
Darren is the author of How to Play the Game: What Every Sports Attorney Needs to Know (published by the American Bar Association), Contributing Writer of An Athlete’s Guide to Agents, 5th Edition, and has authored many sports, entertainment and intellectual property-related Law Journal articles.
Darren has a Bachelors of Arts from the University of Florida and a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from the same institution.

Why Obama And Romney Should Pay Careful Attention To Professional Sports

This is a guest post from Jason Belzer. Jason Belzer is a Sports and Entertainment Attorney and Professor of Sports Management at Rutgers University. He can be followed on twitter @JasonBelzer.

Think about the last bit of news you heard on the upcoming presidential election, or the last conversation about politics you had at lunch. Of all the things that may have been discussed, I can bet that the last would have been the impact that sports plays on the U.S. political landscape. Yet the sports industry, just as every major sector of the U.S. economy, spends millions of dollars yearly lobbying congress in order to sway favor on dozens of various issues. Over 50 organizations whose enterprises fall within the sports industry hire hundreds of different lobbyists every year to do their bidding. There are dozens of major policy issues that the sports industry has lobbied the federal government on over the last decade. The primary areas of focus have been: antitrust, telecommunications, labor relations, internet gambling, cable television and intellectual property, drug abuse and doping, stadium and arena financing, as well as issues related to a college football playoff. Intellectual property issues in particular have been a major area of interest to the leagues, with the major leagues throwing millions in support behind the Stop Online Piracy Act.

Organizations such as Major League Baseball are distinctively situated as compared to more traditional businesses because of their antitrust exclusion. This, coupled with hot button issues such as performance-enhancing drugs, as well as a vast array of broadcast inventory, has made lobbying a focal point for the commissioner’s office. The NFL and MLB have developed powerful political action committees (PAC), with owners funneling millions in contributions to members on both sides of the aisle. The escalation of lobbying by the major leagues stems not in direct response to any particular political crisis, but rather because league officials have come to realize that they now face progressively complex regulatory and business matters that mandate a significantly larger and more dynamic presence on Capitol Hill.

The data below outlines the sports industries’ cumulative lobbying expenditure over the last ten years, totaling $61,252,906, and spending increasing by an astounding 228% from the first year of the cycle to the last. At the current annual growth rate ($507,341), the sports and live entertainment industry will be expected to spend approximately $97,807,550 over the next decade in lobbying expenditures. Roughly 51 organizations on average contribute to this total, hiring an average of 176 lobbyists a year.

Total Sports & Live Entertainment Lobbying Expenditures 2002-2011

If we break down the numbers further, we see that the primary spenders in sports lobbying over the last five years have been the major governing bodies, including: Major League Baseball (MLB), National Football League (NFL), National Basketball Association (NBA), International Speedway Corporation (ISC) National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), Professional Golfers Association (PGA) Tour, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC). Over the last five years, these 9 governing bodies have accounted for $19,260,000, or approximately 53% of the total lobbying expenditure, while making up only roughly 18% of the total organizations contributing funds.

The other 47% of expenditures over the sample period is distributed amongst a number of organizations, including several other governing bodies (National Hockey League, Nascar, World Wrestling Entertainment), as well as industry associations (Outdoor Industry Association, National Recreation & Park Association). Other large contributors include several special event and entertainment entities such as SeaWorld Parks and Feld Entertainment, which produces Supercross and monster truck rallies. An assortment of professional sports teams and ownership groups also actively make contributions, including most recently the Pittsburgh Penguins and Madison Square Garden.

Total Lobbying Contributions by Top Spenders in Sports 2007-2011

In analyzing campaign contributions to federal candidates, parties and outside groups during the election cycles over the last decade, total campaign contributions come in at $26,845,943 with money split slightly in favor of Republican candidates (54%) compared to Democrats (46%). Noticeable spikes are seen during Presidential election years, with contributions growing 514% over the last 5 presidential election cycles (1992-2008). At the current growth rate, campaign contributions by the sports industry are expected to reach roughly $9,108,306 during the 2012 election year.

Looking deeper into the most recent presidential election year (2008), we see an interesting distribution of campaign contributions by sports business enterprises. The NBA and MLB are noticeably at the top of the list, but the NFL, a lobby favorite, is conspicuously absent. The majority of league campaign contributions over the last three elections cycles have been done through the use of Political Action Committees (PACs). The NFL utilized its “Gridiron PAC”, the MLB its “Office of the Commissioner PAC” and most recently the UFC with its “Zuffa PAC” formed for the 2012 election.

We also see heavy involvement by individual professional sports franchises, taking 10 of the top 20 spots. Interestingly enough, the majority of NFL franchises leaned heavily in favor of Republican candidates during 2008, with approximately 87% of their contributions allocated to that party. On the other hand, during the same election year the governing bodies generally favored the Democrats, most noticeably the NBA, with 99% of their donations heading to the left. In 2010, the NFL stepped in with over $682,000 in contributions while the MLB some $527,000, both leaning heavily toward the Democrats. In early 2012 election cycle numbers, both the NFL and MLB are on pace to significantly outspend their 2008 totals, with current donations leaning towards the Republicans slightly with a few months left to go in what will surely be a pivotal presidential election.

Teams and leagues are not the only major donors; major sports and entertainment enterprises such as Wasserman Media Group and Genesco Sports Enterprises also gave campaign contributions to various politicians, although there is no clear unified party affiliation. Likewise, in 2009 Ticketmaster spent close to $300,000 in its (successful) attempt to persuade Congress to permit it to merge with fellow entertainment promoter Live Nation.

Whether we realize it or not, the companies we work for, the teams we love, and the channels we watch our beloved pastimes on are all helping shape the political landscape of our country. As the public becomes more and more aware of the sports industry’s role on Capitol Hill, the question these entities may begin to ask is whether their political affiliations may begin to alienate their own customers? Can a team’s choice to invest heavily in favor of a Democrat or Republican candidate force some of its fan base to look for a new rooting interest? Although it is unlikely that such political activity could have a significant effect on the average fan, in these sensitive economic times, these are considerations that sports industry leaders must take into account before making such contributions.

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